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Can government create jobs?

What say you?

I believe they can, not only in the short term but in the long term. Government creates jobs through both construction projects and hiring people to do government business. But mostly through improving the overall structure of the country.

Better schools and educations lead to Americans being more internationally desired
Better roads lead to improved transportation costs
Better ports lead to an ability to import and export more goods
More and better metro systems decreases traffic leading to better transportation times
Building industrial parks open up areas for large businesses
And obviously cutting taxes means people will be able to spend more and create jobs that way

Of course government can also kill jobs.

I will say that using the stimulus money to build parks and do nature research was stupid as hell. Those are only short term jobs and will do little in the long term. Waste of money.

The massive U.S. stimulus package put millions of people to work and boosted national output by hundreds of billions of dollars in the second quarter, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said on Tuesday.

Last edited by Jucon; 11-02-10 at 10:24 PM.

"There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, it to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution." óJohn Adams

Re: Can government create jobs?

Off the top of my head I can think of a couple of ways.

1. Regulation can create jobs, whether through compliance or whatever.
2. Infrastructure investment. Any project that creates a benefit to society that is greater than its cost will likely have had a net positive effect on job creation.

Re: Can government create jobs?

Yes, government can create jobs. The issue tends to be whether or not government can create wealth. Can the government make the pie bigger? For example, if the private sector opens up a factory to produce goods it increases wealth because it gives people jobs while simultaneously creating a product that is valued. The factory workers receive paychecks from the profits the company makes in exchanging their product with customers. On the other hand, the government generally pays workers with tax money so there is no profit, but rather money is spread around.

When private enterprise wants more income, it works overtime and produces more goods. When the government wants to save money it shuts down.
-Andrew Napolitano

Mr. Madison, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

Re: Can government create jobs?

Originally Posted by Helvidius

Yes, government can create jobs. The issue tends to be whether or not government can create wealth. Can the government make the pie bigger? For example, if the private sector opens up a factory to produce goods it increases wealth because it gives people jobs while simultaneously creating a product that is valued. The factory workers receive paychecks from the profits the company makes in exchanging their product with customers. On the other hand, the government generally pays workers with tax money so there is no profit, but rather money is spread around.
When private enterprise wants more income, it works overtime and produces more goods. When the government wants to save money it shuts down.
-Andrew Napolitano

Andrew Napolitano should read a the business news more often

Private industry has a strong tendancy to shut down plants, cut works in order to get more income (income rather then revenues)

Conservatives believe that the government is incompetent, and seek to elect people who will ensure it is

Re: Can government create jobs?

Private industry has a strong tendancy to shut down plants, cut works in order to get more income (income rather then revenues)

But even if private enterprise cuts some jobs it just means it has taken away some of the wealth it created. For example, if a company hires 1,000 people and a year later fires 100 workers it does not mean private enterprise doesn't create wealth. It means that company has cut back on the amount of wealth it creates, but it has still created wealth. Government does not do this. It does not expand the pie, but rather takes from one part of the pie to give to another part.

Mr. Madison, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

Re: Can government create jobs?

I always hated the term "creating jobs". The government does not create "jobs" unless it creates a job that has never been in existence before. What the government does it create job opportunities. The idea that the government creates jobs is basically an ad campaign for government.

Re: Can government create jobs?

Originally Posted by Helvidius

But even if private enterprise cuts some jobs it just means it has taken away some of the wealth it created. For example, if a company hires 1,000 people and a year later fires 100 workers it does not mean private enterprise doesn't create wealth. It means that company has cut back on the amount of wealth it creates, but it has still created wealth. Government does not do this. It does not expand the pie, but rather takes from one part of the pie to give to another part.

The government can expand the pie as well

The Hoover Dam represents a huge amount of wealth, it has created a huge amount of economic activity through its power generation, recreation by having people use the reservior for boating, for irrigation, and drinking water. The interstate freeway system improved the transportation system through the US increasing effeciency of the US economy as a whole allowing for a a rather growth in the economy

Conservatives believe that the government is incompetent, and seek to elect people who will ensure it is

Re: Can government create jobs?

I believe they can

It doesn't matter what people believe, that fact that people clicked 'no' to this is tardernated. The government is comprised of employees already. Government also created jobs through projects in the past. Government can also affect the economy, can it 'create' jobs? Yes. Is it always of economic benefit given the side effects of the policies it would require to create rote job numbers. Maybe not. Im not an economist.